MPs in probe on overnight payments

Page Tools

Victoria's 44 upper house MPs face a probe into their travel allowance payments after it emerged yesterday that disgraced drink-drive MP Andrew Olexander may wrongly have received the payments.

The review, which will scrutinise such payments in the past 18 months, will add to the uncertainty surrounding Mr Olexander's political future after his weekend car crash.

State MPs whose primary residence is outside a 28-kilometre radius from the Melbourne GPO qualify for an allowance of about $107 each parliamentary sitting day if they stay in Melbourne overnight. Mr Olexander regularly claims the allowance when he stays at his Docklands apartment because he has a residence in Ringwood East, which he says is his "main residence".

But expert testing using GPS equipment done for The Age yesterday found that Mr Olexander's Ringwood East unit is well inside the 28-kilometre radius from the GPO, and is only about 25 kilometres from it "as the crow flies".

Upper house president Monica Gould announced the review of overnight parliamentary travel allowances yesterday. "Recently concerns have been expressed about the payment of the allowances," she said in a statement.

AdvertisementAdvertisement

"Consequently I have asked my staff to examine our procedures to ensure that they have been properly administered with regard to members of the Legislative Council," Ms Gould said. "The regulations for payment of this allowance are clear and members are advised of these at the beginning of each Parliament."

The GPS testing measured the distance between the GPO in Elizabeth Street and the Dublin Road-Mt Dandenong Road intersection in Ringwood East. It is the closest major intersection to Mr Olexander's residence and further away from the city than the unit. The GPO was found to be 25.044 kilometres from the intersection.

Also, a driving test found that Mr Olexander's Ringwood East unit is not 28 kilometres from the GPO in a direct route along Melbourne's eastern suburbs roads. When The Age drove from the GPO to the Ringwood East unit along Maroondah Highway and other roads, the vehicle covered 27.3 kilometres when it reached the beginning of Mr Olexander's driveway. On the return trip to the GPO, via the Eastern Freeway, a longer but quicker route, the distance was 30.7 kilometres.

A spokesman for Mr Olexander confirmed that the MP was regularly paid the overnight allowance when he stayed at his Docklands apartment after a parliamentary sitting day.

But he said Mr Olexander did not believe he had done anything wrong in receiving the payments. He said assessments of the distance between Mr Olexander's main residence and the GPO were made by a parliamentary officer, not by Mr Olexander.

"He left all that assessment up to the Parliament," the spokesman said. "If there's a problem, we would await the decisions and deliberations of the Parliament."

Mr Olexander, the member for Silvan province since 1999, lost control of his car and crashed into three parked cars early on Sunday morning. The 39-year-old MP was significantly over the .05 per cent limit and could personally face a damage bill of $100,000. Mr Olexander could also face charges in relation to the crash.

He resigned as Opposition spokesman for arts, consumer affairs and youth issues after the crash.

The Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, Judy Maddigan, said she saw no need to conduct a similar review into the payment of overnight travel allowances to lower house MPs.

"We're very careful about the allowance. I'm confident there haven't been any breaches and there is no need for an investigation," she said.